Installing BackTrack 3 to a USB Stick in Vista

Published
by
Lloyd
on January 3, 2009
in 45, Cool Stuff, General Funky-ness, Tutorials and Vista
. 1 Comment

Not really TOTALLY Vista, but I did it in Vista, so ‘nuff said.

You’re going to want at least 2GB for this. They’re hella cheap nowadays, too, so just pick up a new one if need be!

 

1. Download the USB version from here:

http://www.remote-exploit.org/backtrack_download.html

 

2. Extract it (use 7-Zip or another unzipping utility). Don’t delete the image just yet in case you mess up. :)

image 

3. Format your stick – and not a Quick Format, a proper format.

Computer > Right click > Format > FAT32 > Format.

 

4.  Copy the /boot and /BT3 directories over to your newly formatted flash drive. (once the format is complete).

image5.  PAY ATTENTION.

IF YOU GET THIS WRONG, YOUR COMPUTER WILL NOT BOOT.

On your flash drive (NOT your hard drive) launch the X:/boot/bootinst.bat file. FROM your flash drive – so go to Computer, open your flash drives folder, enter the boot directory and double click bootinst – you might not see .bat. NOT bootinst.sh

This window will show up:

image

NOTE It says This installer will setup disk Z: to boot only Slax.

Z: is the drive letter of my flash drive. If it says C:, abort this as your current installation will no longer boot. DONT TYPE “X” as the window implies, close it at the top right.

I hit any key, and then it will either say Install Successful OR Install Failed and throw an error about permissions. If this happens, return to /boot and right click the bootinst.bat file, and hit Run As Administrator.

However, for me, I had a tiny problem.

When I launched with elevated permissions, I’d get C:, but when I launched normally I’d get Z:. to combat this, I turned UAC off, rebooted, and tried again. Problem solved.

6. Danaaaa! Done.

7. Now, reboot your PC with the USB flash drive plugged in. For some people, not all USB ports work, so if it refuses to work, try a different port. Also, ensure that your boot order is correct – enter the BIOS on boot (hit F2, F10, whatever it says on the bottom as you boot) then head to Boot Order and ensure that Hard Disk Drive is below all USB devices.

8. Exit and Save all BIOS changes.

9. It will boot into BT3.

10. If your screen goes black, leave it for a while – if it’s still black after five minutes, mash some random keys. If this still doesn’t work, push your power button as if you were turning the PC on again (not to reset it). This happens to me a lot. Then the screen will show up again.

 

Congratulations. You just created a bootable BackTrack 3 USB flash drive.

Ooh, Wordle!

Published
by
Lloyd
on January 3, 2009
in Cool Stuff
. 0 Comments

Found this today. Wordle!

It also ties in with TweetStats to make some cool stuff. See mine here.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3087/3160920229_3154b2255f_o.png

<rant> PayPal :(

Published
by
Lloyd
on December 31, 2008
in Rants
. 1 Comment

PayPal annoys me more than words can describe. So I’m transferring an amount into my account, and it tells me its going to take till the 8th of Jan. That’s a long time to think we’re living in the day and age where stuff gets done at a snap of the fingers… Worse still, I wont get any of my ordered stuff until school starts on the 5th, so I’ll have no time to play with my new stuff since I practically bunked the last week of school with AV Theatre arrangements, so any over-the-holidays homework is going to have to be caught up on before the 8th so I at least get a few hours to play around with the stuff. I sometimes wish there was a test you could take to be allowed to leave school and just get a proper job. I mean, I have so many better things I could be doing with my time than learning things I already know!

</rant>

HP MiniNote 2133: It f**king rocks

Published
by
Lloyd
on December 22, 2008
in 45, Cool Stuff, Gadgets and Technology
. 0 Comments

So why do I think this magical piece of high quality, precision cut netbook is fabulous? I dunno. It’s got the HP charm. Now, I love HP. They’re cool. They’re innovative. They’ve got the Home Server, the TouchSmarts and most importantly, the Pavilion Tablets (I own one, and I love it). And y’know, HP have taken Asus’s bastard child of plastic and cheapness and turned it into a metal, sheek piece of beauty.

Continue reading ‘HP MiniNote 2133: It f**king rocks’

£30 a month?

Published
by
Lloyd
on December 20, 2008
in Blog Welfare, Life and Rants
. 0 Comments

My computer costs are spiralling, especially with this credit crunch, and so the electricity bill just got raised £30. Now Mum wants me to start turning off the computer whenever I’m nowhere near, which would absolutely kill it for me, since I’m usually encoding and don’t want to have to do that when I’m using the computer (since its hella slow). Also, all of my media is streamed through the PC because I don’t have enough cash to buy a low powered storage server (which I’ve been planning to buy, but have never had the cash). So, to combat this I’m going to have to start making a steady £30 a month. Thinking about it, it wouldn’t be that hard – about a pound a day, but it’s surprisingly difficult on the internet! So, I’d like you all to find some work I could do for you, or work I could do for a friend… and I’ll promise to err… continue being me.

Best. Song. Ever.

Published
by
Lloyd
on December 13, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Posting From The Dash!

Published
by
Lloyd
on December 12, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Okay, so I LOVE the new WordPress. It’s great. It’s been updated for the ultimate speediness, customizability (biiig word) and ease of use for me, meaning I post more often, meaning you guys get better blogging!

It’s coming along niiicely now. Loving it!